Recycled Bottles Into Usable Drinking Glasses Using Fire

A step by step guide on how to turn an old bottle into a cool looking vase or cup using fire to expand and contract and object to break it in a precise area. In this case, a bottle.

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Step 1: Materials

You will need:

Any size old glass bottle

Rubbing alcohol

100% cotton string

A dish to put the alcohol in

Scissors

A bucket that can fit your entire bottle vertically with extra space

Respirator

Glasses

A lighter

Step 2: Getting Everything Ready

Soak your bottles in a container using very hot water for 15 minutes to get the labels and glue off . You can just use very hot sink water, it doesn't have to be boiling.

Put on your respirator and glasses and move your work place outside.

Poor a 1/2 a cup of rubbing alcohol into a dish so that we can soak our cotton thread in it.

Leave the bottles out to dry once you have taken the labels and glue off.

Step 3: Getting Ready to Cut the Glass

Now that the Bottles have dried, we need to cut a piece of string that can wrap around the bottle 3 times with extra string to spare.

I suggest using a bottle you don't plan on using for a test run.

Tie a knot tightly around the area you want to cut the bottle.

Now wrap the string 2 more times and tie it around the original piece so you have 3 layers of string where you want to cut.

Carefully take the string off and soak it in the alcohol for about 15 seconds. Make sure the entire length string is getting full coverage.

Step 4: Cutting the Bottle

Make sure you have your glasses and respirator on before you continue.

Place your bucket of water right at your feet so you can quench the bottle fast

Ignite the cotton around the bottle and rotate the bottle slowly while the cotton burns so the bottle gets even coverage of heat while it burns.

The flame will eventually go out and this is when you put your bottle into the water top or bottom first.

If you have done it correctly you should have the two ends split evenly on the string.

My try outside did not work because of the wind blowing out the flame on the string, but when I took it back inside, the string stayed lit long enough for the bottle to get hot enough to break when we quench it in the water.

Not all the bottles worked for me this time like the wine bottle, but I have cut one before, so good luck with your breaks and be careful.

Step 5: Cleaning Up the Bottles

Only one of my bottles need a light sanding around the edges to take away the sharp edge, but the other bottle didn't need any cleanup at all.

You can pour the used alcohol down your drain just be sure to open a window

The burnt strings can be put in the trash because we already burned all the alcohol off and it is drenched in water.